Shattered Space: The Age of Mysticism

Shattered Space: The Age of Mysticism

Our story begins on Earth, in the year 2016 A.D. The first manned voyage to Mars, after 297 days from launch, is a success. A group of eight scientists make up the team of astronauts to brave the milestone. Two years after their arrival on the red planet, everything changes.

It begins shortly after the crew notices signs of life in the form of microscopic bacteria. A few days after collecting samples they experience small lapses in memory, and report strange phenomena in the form of gravitational anomalies and moving shadows on the horizon. Seven of the scientists quickly become ill, and are placed under the watch and care of the eighth.

A day later, all transmissions from Mars cease. No contact is every made with Mars again. A week after a second team is sent, Mars vanishes with no explanation.

After the initial shock of the event dies down the public still has no evident explanation for the disappearance of Mars and the crew of eight. A majority of the scientific community lends speculation to a singularity, while the general public points to conspiracy and rumor.

As time passes, the event becomes nothing more than another historical tragedy. The world continues to turn, and life follows its cycle for another 1029 years. Technology continues to advance. We eventually overcome our previous limitations and develop creations the likes of modern magic. Medical breakthroughs are achieved, and space exploration has continued throughout the Solar System. Colonies have been established on several planets, and some have began to grow into larger societies.

Suddenly, Earth vanishes, just as Mars did in 2018. The people of the colonies panic. Many assume that this will one day happen to all of the planets in the system. All scientific efforts are focused on habitation in nearby galaxies. The Solar System is abandoned in a hurry, and many efforts to establish life in the nearest neighboring galaxies are rushed, and lacking in proper protocol.

Many of the colonies immediately fail, while others adapt to lifestyles devoid of certain luxury (proper resource distribution, clean water, electricity). Without the available means to propel any vessels through space immediately, these colonies fall out of touch with the more successful colonies. Contact is eventually established between the two types of colonies, but efforts to properly repair each colony to prime condition is slow.

The year is now 3561 A.D. The entirety of the human race is scattered throughout various unified planets in the Andromeda and M33 galaxies under the vision of the Galactic Councils. Conflict is common so the Galactic Councils are familiar in the arts of war, and hold power with the aid of a large wealth of soldiers.

Life for the average citizen in this age tends to vary depending on the social or economic status of the individual. Work is hard to find no matter where you are, so it’s best to be born to a politician, hope to find proper conditions to seek a trade, join the Galactic Military, or feed off of the more privileged through a life of crime.

Most of the general populace acts in accordance with the Galactic Councils, and no organized resistance has surfaced aside from a radical group of religious extremists that call themselves The Harbingers of Peace. The HoP primarily act in the shadows, but boast a message of opportunity for the weak, and justice for the corrupt.